Neat. Sounds interesting.
Does anyone know who Dario Nardi is? What Radiance House has done?
According to the page and his own personal web page (www.darionardi.com), he's a professor at UCLA. Looks like he started his own publishing company.
Mr Nardi: If you wouldn't mind entertaining a few questions.
I just looked through my copy. First impression: wow. There's a metric ton of cool stuff in here. I'd been planning to run a Binder in the next party I roll up, later this year, and this book just opens up worlds of possibilities.
I'd say if you're halfway interested in playing a Binder or using Pact Magic in your world, this is a must have. It's a massive book, w/ tons of information and ideas. If you make decisions like this based largely on economics, think of it this way: there's a serious lot of bang for the buck.
Thank you very much for answering my questions. The samples look great.
Wow, looks cool. And, a nice nod to how these things are presented in real worl rituals
I am not a huge binder fan, but this may be useful to me anyway...
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I'm very intrigued by this product and am seriously considering ordering it very soon. Truthfully, the only thing stopping me from ordering it right now is my desire to support Paizo (dang customer loyalty) as my favorite RPG product source.
So I guess my question for the Paizo people is "Is it likely that you will offer (or consider offering) this product through your website or should I just go ahead and purchase it directly from www.pactmagic.com?"
Either way, kudos to Prof. Nardi for what seems to be an awesome product!
This looks awesome!
I've left a message with Paizo Director of Sales & Marketing, Joshua Frost, regarding whether Paizo might carry Secrets of Pact Magic. Let's see what happens!
Cool. Glad to hear. :)
I pre-ordered this based on the samples alone.
I was not disappointed. This is an innovative and detailed book with a healthy dose of mechanics for virtually any level of play. And the flavour is top notch stuff as well.
I pre-ordered this based on the samples alone.A big hello to HalifaxDM!
You're not from Halifax, UK, are you? I'm trying to get back in contact with a few missing people.
If so, give me a call on 'robert dot feather at blueyonder dot co dot uk' (address split up to avoid the usual spammers).
Bob
Sorry man, I am from Halifax, Canada.
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Sorry man, I am from Halifax, Canada.
Pooh.
As is everyone else, it seems...Back on topic; I liked the look of the art, which seemed very familiar.
Realistic, whilst still being fantasy (or vice-versa?).
Glad to see WOTC didn't object to the mechanics, but just got protective of their term 'vestige'. This gives hope that other third-party publishers can still produce material compatible with D&D rules outside the SRD.
Haven't had chance to read any of the preview material, yet. Can anyone confirm that these rules allow for both good and evil characters? The general assumption is that summoning creatures and entering pacts is a suspect activity, but I can see why, in fantasy, that does not have to be the case.
Anyone else have trouble downloading the magic font? I can view it OK, but when I save it to my Windows file, and try to use it, it's blank.
Am I clueless?
I will be buying this! I am really impressed with what could be previewed. I loved Rasputin!
Fizz
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This seems pretty cool. Unfortunately I don't have the funds to grab this at the moment (or more accurately, they're tapped; my car's transmission has been having some annoying problems of late and that needs to be dealt with) but this does indeed seem cool. I may snag this in a month or two when things have gone back to normal. I'll be watching for reviews until then.
This looks awesome.
Mr. Shiny is gonna love this.
If you had a downloadable pdf I'd take it right now.
Mr. Shiny is gonna love this.
I had that exact thought when I read the thread title.
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Contest
Would you like to see your name on a product sold by Paizo?
I'd love to put together a PDF with the best submissions to a contest. The winning submissions would be illustrated and professionally laid out, with credits and some other prize. The intellectual property would remain with the creators, of course. Interested?
When are you thinking about doing this? I think it would be fun to try!
Excellent! Thank you for the head's up.
This looks pretty cool. I just purchased a copy and can't wait to give it a try in my games.
James, your order went out today! :-)
For everyone:
Paizo will carry Radiance House PDF products (and there is a PDF of Secrets of Pact Magic). I need to do the paperwork for that. I'll check getting physical product can be carried too.
RPG Superstar 2009 Top 32, 2010 Top 8
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More books (and CDs) sent off. Thanks everyone for your support!
Paperwork is signed and on its way to Paizo. Hardbound books are a different than electronic downloads. We'll see.Participating in Paizo's store has me thinking about smaller PDF products offered on a regular basis that folks can download on the cheap.
Glad to see you're able to work with Paizo, Mr. Nardi.
As soon as my copy arrives it will get read, and as soon as I see it on the page, I'll make sure to review it.
I see Rasputin. Is there Baba Yaga? Cause she's awesome.
I just ordered it from France this morning from your website Mr Nardi, since it will take a LOT of time to cross the ocean, is there a way you could send me the pdf by mail (or another download solution)?
I bought the pack with the CD-Rom.
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RPG Superstar 2009 Top 32, 2010 Top 8
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I should be able to make a PDF available soon. I've just been snowed under with my day job. The hardcopy book is also now available on Amazon, but it's 'out of stock' until my stock arrives to them!
What is the ETA from Order to pickup, Mr. Nardi? Still eagerly awaiting my copy here.
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I went ahead and ordered my copy, which arrived two days ago, I've spent my free time (what little lawschool allows) reading. Below is a quick review of the book, a more thorough one to come in the future.
There is a lot of good stuff in this book. A LOT of VERY GOOD stuff.
Classes: Interesting variations on standard classes to allow them to paticipate in pact magic. They seem pretty balanced to me and definately give a unique twist for PC's/NPC's. He also provides a simple option to allow all spellcasters to try pact magic for 24 hours.
Feats: Provides options for both pact magic dabblers and pros, allowing you to augment your own pacts or reduce restrictions/requirements.
Prestige classes: Still looking at this area, but they seem to offer actual in game roleplaying oppurtunities as they help you to define who your character really is.
Spirits: Drawing on a mix from real world myths and modern fiction, this area definately shines. Each spirit has an intriguing background and a reasonable theme of powers. Humor also makes its appearance here, especially in the background of the spirits "Mana" and "Forty Two."
Epic: Rules for epic level pact magic are presented as well ass epic advancement, but I haven't read those as thoroughly yet. I wanted to make sure I (basically) understood everything else about this book's system before tackling the epic stuff. From what I've been able to see, it should be comparable to epic spell casting and may even have a few rules I'll implement into my own epic spell system. As a fan of epic material, the fact Prof Nardi even included this is a huge plus for me!
Compatability with other sources: Prof Nardi's system is fully compatable with, yet distinct from, WOTC's Tome of Magic. You can mix back and forth between them without losing flavor or impair game play. Like the original class better? Use this book for spirits/feats/PrC's. Like the classes in this book better? Use the other book's feats/spirits/PrC's.
Cons: Few editing errors here and there, but much fewer instances than other certain published works in the last couple of years. Considering this is 3rd party publisher providing a "metric ton" of material I'm not concerned or bothered by this. One other thing involves a 9th level spell listed as Druid only, but the text above the spell list says all spells in the book are Sor/Wizard spells and this is the only spell without a Sor/Wiz level
Conclusion: This is a good buy. If you have the Tome of Magic and want more pact magic materail, then this can serve as an expansion/improvement on that system. If you don't have that book but want an alternate magic system to spice up your game, then between this book and Tome of magic you'll get everything you need. I'd recommend it without hesitation. For the folks planning on converting to 4th edition, Prof Nardi has already stated he intends to create a 4th edition version. If he puts as much effort into that as this book shows then I'd recommend at least looking at it.
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Contest
Would you like to see your name on a product sold by Paizo?
I'd love to put together a PDF with the best submissions to a contest. The winning submissions would be illustrated and professionally laid out, with credits and some other prize. The intellectual property would remain with the creators, of course. Interested?
Consider me interested!
Would this contest be based on the content of this book?|
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I saw this book at OrcCon this weekend. Didn't have time to read it too closely but the production values are great; book looks very professioinal, good illustrations, text is highly readable. I also had a chance to chat with the author. Nice guy, has just always wanted to put out an RPG book so he did a ton of research and then let his creative juices flow. I didn't win any of the daily raffles so now I'll have do the whole that's-cool-and-I-want-it vs. how-often-would-I-use-it calculation.
Being one of the unfortunate souls who feels compelled to buy books that offer up new magic systems, I'm HOOKED!! Once I go back to work and have disposable income, you can BETCHA I'll be picking up a copy/set (because I want the hardcopy to sit down in a comfy chair and leisurely pore over and the .pdf for reading while traveling.
Thank you for a new magic system!
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I just got my copy. Ordered about 2 weeks ago. I'm at work, so I only have my first impression. It looks really nice, and every page has a shiny and slick paper (rather than the flat that was used in WotC books at the beginning of 3.5 (and further back). Also, the lettering and art is printed directly onto, instead of into, the page, so every page has a distinct texture. It's interesting to flip through. I wonder if the pages might not get dirtier with heavy use or the lettering rub off. Time will tell.
Anyway, the whole thing looks great, and I will give more detailed impressions in the near future (time allowing)!
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The Lesser Key of Solomon and related sources dating to 1563 AD and afterward.
Dario,
For a number of reasons, I am planning on obtaining a copy of the Lesser Key of Solomon.
My initial searches indicate that the Crowley/Mathers edition is the most readily available.
Which edition would you suggest? Which (to the best of your knowledge) is the most complete?
Which related sources are you referring to?